East County Water Control District (ECWCD) hosted 10 members of the 2011 Leadership Lehigh class, a program which provides organized training for Lehigh’s future leaders, to its temporary office building on Wednesday, October 19.

Leadership Lehigh provides hands on training where participants view systems up close, work together to achieve a unique knowledge of resources and services available in our area, region and state.

The 10-member class learned of ECWCD’s programs which manage, protect, improve and preserve the natural resources within Lehigh acres and the western portion of Hendry County in a fiscally responsible manner, said Carla Ulakovic, community project specialist with ECWCD.

The tour began at the District headquarters and continued to the District’s maintenance shop and concluded in the field. The Leadership Lehigh class viewed a newly completed construction project on the Able Canal structure that helps alleviate flooding in Lehigh, recharge aquifers and send water to the District’s filter marsh before it leaves our water system.

ECWCD staff is working to raise awareness of the District’s many programs from canal cleaning to rights-of-way maintenance, to flood and drainage control, to aquatic plant control and National Pollution Elimination Discharge System programs covering a 110 square-mile area, Ulakovic said.

This square-mile radius includes 311 miles of canals, 20 lakes, 360 culvert crossings, 22 bridges, 66 water control structures, and 1298 preserve acres-including the 598 acres at Harns Marsh.